Poisoned in Light

by Ben Alderson

  “Zacriah, she is ready to see you.”

  I jumped from my stall in an instant, causing it to clatter across the ground.

  “How is she?” I asked, running for Neivel and Negan.

  “Come and see,” they replied in unison before dipping back out of the tent. I followed after them, forgetting the conversation I had just been a part of.

  But as my hands went to push the tent I turned back to Emaline, Illera and Vianne. I had a feeling, deep in the pit of my chest, that this was the last time I would see the three of them for a long time.

  I paused and offered them each a smile. I hoped they could see just how much I cared for each one of them with my subtle expression. Goodbyes were not something I had practice with, but even I knew I would not been good at them. Instead I raised my hand and placed it on my heart. Emaline and Illera followed suit.

  Goodbye friends, I thought. May our paths cross again.

  NYAH’S EYES WERE closed as I entered the makeshift medical tent. She must’ve heard the tent flaps open as she rolled her head to the side and forced a smile in her state of exhaustion. Her pasty skin was coated in a sheen of sweat making her deep-crimson curls stick to her forehead and neck. Dark circles framed her hollow eyes. She was a portrait of weakness, but it didn’t matter. She was alive.

  “Oh Nyah,” I breathed, rushing to the side of the cot. I laid both hands on her arm and rested my head atop them. “I really thought I’d lost you.”

  “It is going to take more than a knife to finish me off.” Nyah’s chuckle was scratchy and rough. She winced but didn’t stop her little laugh. “And you really think I would ever leave you without saying goodbye?”

  I sobbed in response, holding my friend as if it was the last time.

  “Zac, really. Stop crying. I have a headache as it is… your emotions are not helping ease it.”

  “Sorry,” I choked out half a laugh and half a cry. Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I looked my friend deep into her emerald eyes. They were squinted, the whites flecked with small red veins. Her left eye was almost completely bloodshot.

  “I have realized something.”

  “What?” I said.

  “It could be the strange healing plants the Morthi have given me to help increase the production of blood, or the fact I lost so much that causes my moments of deliria, but you may be the only person I’d take a knife in the stomach for. I hope that makes you feel special.”

  I squeezed her arm gently, thanking her with my eyes. “Like the most important person alive.”

  Nyah sighed. “Alive.” Closing her eyes and laying her head back down on the pillow. “Tell me we can go home soon. I need the comfort of my own bed. I do hate to complain, but these cots are the worst.”

  “You are in all your right to complain about anything you want. In fact, I will never tell you to stop ever again.”

  “Goddess, you really do like me.” Nyah opened one eye and the corners of her mouth tilted up for a slight moment.

  “We will be leaving as soon as you are well enough to travel. Rest will help you heal.” I spied the bandage that had been strapped down on her exposed abdomen. A small faded red stain could be seen through the white material from the fresh stitching the healers had given her.

  “And you don’t have any Forbian left that could help speed this up?”

  “Would seem that Gordex drank it all up when he took down our blood,” I joked. It felt strange, but a relief, making light of what happened.

  “That would explain what I’ve been told. My brothers said he just fell asleep in the middle of his ritual. I didn’t believe them at first.”

  “They speak the truth,” I said. “It’s hard to fully grasp it but it would seem that the very same drug he used to get us together in the first place has also kept us together.”

  I shook my head, taking a cool cloth from the basin beside her cot and rubbing it across her head. “Don’t worry. We will be home soon enough, then you are free to do whatever it is you want to do.”

  “Strange concept, isn’t it? Knowing that this is all over,” Nyah whispered. “It sounds silly, but I feel like I am lost now. Unsure where life is taking me next. I should be happy that the drama has been put to bed, and I am! Yet I cannot deny the small part of me which worries about the next chapter.”

  “It’s not silly.” I wrung the cloth out and dabbed her head again. “But think of it like this. Up until this point, we have been living through a story already set. Yet now, we have turned the page, and it is empty. We can finally control what it is that happens in our lives, no longer controlled by a present destiny or conflict. The story is finally ours.”

  Even I was proud of my explanation, but Nyah laughed. “What ever happened to the boy who grabbed me as he escaped the kitchens in Vulmar Palace? Now he is a poet, you sound more and more like Gallion by the day.”

  “That boy… I don’t know what happened to him.”

  I didn’t. I felt different now.

  “I do.” Nyah lifted her hand and rested it on mine, stopping me from wiping her forehead. “He became brave.”

  My heart quivered. “He had to.”

  “We all did.”

  Nyah fought a yawn, her lips shaking as they opened dramatically. That was my cue to let her rest, she needed it after what she had been through.

  “How about I come back later and see how you are getting on? If you want to get home you really are going to need to sleep and let your body work,” I said, stretching my knees to stand.

  “Could you”—she stopped me—“stay with me until I sleep? Don’t tell anyone else, but I am finding it pretty hard to navigate the darkness at the moment. Wouldn’t want anyone thinking I am a pansy.”

  “Of course, I will stay,” I said, sitting back down. “I won’t go anywhere till I hear you snore.”

  “I don’t snore!” Nyah laughed.

  “We will soon see about that.”

  Nyah was asleep within a few moments.

  I watched as her eyes settled beneath her eyelids and her chest leveled out to her regular breathing. Even after she slept, I didn’t want to leave. But the Morthi healers, the King—no, Kell—had sent for had returned and ushered me out.

  As they guided me from the tent with words of kindness and trust, I spotted Hadrian who was leaning up against a tent pole.

  “How long have you been out here?” I asked.

  “Since you went in.” He pushed himself off and walked to me with open arms. Taking my hands in his he explored me with his eyes from my toes to my eyes. “Forgive me, Petal, but it may take me a while to get used to you being out of harm’s way. For the time being I just want to be close to you.”

  I smiled, cheeks warming, and it was not thanks to the burning sun. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

  “A walk?” His eyes lit up. “I would love to do anything, as long as your hand is within mine.”

  I would have guided him towards the sea-shore and along it, but still Morthi from Vcaros were cleaning up the remaining shadowbeings. In the distance above camp, a large black plume of smoke stretched into the sky. Instead we walked around the small camp.

  “Kell has surprised me,” Hadrian said.

  “I think she has surprised us all.”

  “I will miss her when we return to Thessolina. But for once I am confident to say that we have a relationship with Morgatis even if it was created in such dire times.”

  I peered up to him. “Your first act as King.”

  Hadrian didn’t smile back. “My father is still King. I only hope he returns soon enough. Did the curse the Druid placed upon him break with his death, or is my father still stuck in his eternal sleep? Those are the question that blur in my mind.”

  “I wish I could give you the answers,” I said, pressing the back of his hand to my mouth. “But when Vianne reaches the city, we will be able to put your questions to bed. We must wait and hold out hope that your father is safe.” Even saying it I could see the v
ision of the sleeping king in his glass casket.

  “Have they left?” I asked.

  “When you were with Nyah? Yes.”

  “What of Tiv?” I asked. “Did Vianne take him?”

  I’d not seen him since the aftermath of the fight. He was huddled between soldiers and kept at a distance even after Gordex had been killed. Seeing such fear in his small, innocent eyes broke me at that moment. The thought of saying goodbye to him was sickening, especially since I knew little of his parents and if they survived the attack on their home.

  “He is still here,” Hadrian replied. “Until Vianne can assess the city, I believe it is no place for a child.”

  “I would very much like to see him,” I said.

  “And we shall, but I have something for you. Emaline gave it to me to pass on to you. She said you would understand.”

  Hadrian pulled a tangled silver chain from his breast pocket and handed it over to me. The silver was cold to the touch and it tickled my palm as he laid it down. The small silvered acorn being the last thing he dropped.

  I released a breath and a single tear. It made my heart ache and flutter with understanding in a single moment. I fisted the chain, pressed it close to my chest and sent a silent pray to the Goddess for my friends. Emaline’s final act, giving me this necklace was all I needed to remember her. Just as Emaline had given it to Nesta, and Nesta back to Emaline it had made it all the way to me. I would cherish it till the end of my days.

  “It seems that there is a story that comes along with that gift,” Hadrian said.

  “There is,” I replied. “But one for another day.”

  For this moment I wanted to keep it as my own little secret.

  Grief shadowed Hadrian’s face for a moment. It was brief, but there. He tried to rid himself of it by plastering a smile on his face, but I could see through his illusion.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

  Fadine. Her death had not been brought up.

  “Not yet,” Hadrian said. “But when I am ready, I promise it will be you I speak with.”

  I squeezed his hand, trying to show my understanding.

  Hadrian tugged my arm and pulled me in a different direction. “Let us go and see the youngling. I have a feeling that will make him very happy.”

  “Tiv?” I said, approaching him as he was sat on the carpeted floor of the tent with his back to me.

  His ears tickled as he heard me and ever so slowly he turned around. The moment his eyes laid themselves upon me, he sprang for the floor and ran for me. Jumping, he flew through the air and collided with my waiting arms. We both toppled to the ground.

  “You came back for me,” he half cried half laughed. “Tiv is so so sorry, I didn’t want the bad man to find me, but he did, and then he wouldn’t let me go. I tried to fight him, I promise I was brave.”

  “Shh,” I cooed, hugging him tightly. Hadrian knelt beside us and wrapped his arm around us both.

  “You were very brave, Tiv, just like a solider,” Hadrian said.

  “Like you?” Tiv asked.

  Hadrian shook his head. “You are even braver than I.”

  Tiv’s white face beamed with pride. His small hands lifted and ran down Hadrian’s stubble. “You remind me of my father.”

  “I do?” Hadrian said.

  Tiv nodded and looked to me. “What if the bad man took them from me? I don’t want to be alone.”

  “You will never be alone,” I said, peering to Hadrian for an answer but deciding for one alone. “Because you are coming to a castle in a new land until we know it is fine for you to return home. That is if you want to.”

  “My castle,” Hadrian added. “And we will look after you for as long as you need. How does that sound?”

  “Is there swords?” Tiv asked, one white brow raised.

  “Many.”

  “And shields?”

  “More than you could imagine.”

  Tiv nodded. “Tiv wants to come.”

  ALL THAT WAS needed were three of the Niraen ships we had arrived on. The rest we offered up to Kell and her city, who took them graciously. It was the first gift of many between Thessolina and Morgatis. A way of thanking the Morthi warriors for their lives during the fight.

  Hadrian and I were the last to get on the small row boat to take us on to ship as we had goodbyes to say to Kell.

  Hadrian spent his time thanking every Morthi warrior who aided in our fight, even Paytric and his people, who stood amongst the crowd. Once hands were exchanged and thanks was given, it left Kell, Hadrian and me alone to share our final moments.

  “You know you are always welcome to return to Vcaros,” Kell said. “And I promise next time there will be a considerable lack of gold amongst the city. I think you have helped me prove just how little of a threat the Dragori really are, so thank you.”

  “That was your plan all along?” Hadrian said.

  Kell closed her eyes and smiled. “My father’s rule, and his father’s before lived in fear of your kind. Without showing, proving to the people of my city that you are no threat, I would never have won their trust to abolish traditions that they had been brought up with. I can assure you, everyone in Vcaros will discard their gold in thanks and memory of you all.”

  Hadrian took her hand and shook it. “It has been a pleasure.”

  “One that has been all mine,” Kell replied. Once she dropped her hand, she turned to me. Instead of offering hers to me she opened her arms, and I embraced her in a hug.

  “Thank you for everything, Kell,” I said, breathing in her spicy aroma that clung to her garments.

  “It has been a pleasure fighting beside you.”

  “Oh,” I whispered into her ear. “Thank you for saving my life back there. Without you, I’d still be being scraped from the scales of a serpent.”

  She patted my back. “And thank you for saving the world from potential reign of darkness and despair.”

  I laughed. “When you say it like that…”

  “Sounds important, doesn’t it? I am certain the history books will tell stories of you all for years to come. How we all came together after years of being so apart. I feel proud to be a part of that.”

  “And I am proud that my name will be in ink next to yours.”

  Kell waved us off the entire way to the main ship. My arms ached by the time we reached the ladder up to the ship from waving at those who watched us leave. Once we climbed to the top deck and looked back, I could see the crowd walking off towards the direction of the city, Paytric included. It was good to see that their long feud was over. Yet another achievement from Kell and her secretiveness.

  The ship was a blur of movement and excitement. It had been almost three days since the death of Gordex, and the remaining Niraen soldiers were just as excited to return home as we were. Masts were raised, oars where placed into the ocean, and we began moving. We slipped away from the land of Morgatis into the never-ending expanse of azure. Sky met sea seamlessly, giving it the impression that it went on for eternity.

  “I promised Nyah I would sit with her for a while,” I told Hadrian, who stood behind me as we overlooked the ship’s hull at the horizon. His arms were wrapped around my stomach, his chin rested on my shoulder. His cool, minty breath dusted gently across my check as our breathing became in sync. “But the longer you hold me, the harder it will be to go.”

  “Then I know what to do to always keep you with me.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You do.”

  The light caught the ring Hadrian had given me. It was still nestled on my finger, perfect and clean. Not a spec of war tarnished its smooth surface. Hadrian picked my hand from the railing and lifted it before us both.

  “You never did give me an answer,” he said. “And you promised that when this was all over, you would.”

  “I did, didn’t I?”

  In one slick move, Hadrian spun my hand, turning me around to face him. My back pressed up against the railing now and face inch
es from his.

  “So?” he asked, amber eyes glowing with intrigue. “What will it be, Petal, do you fancy facing the new world together?”

  I tilted me head and grinned. “I could think of nothing better in this entire expanse of the world that I would like more than to be next to you for the rest of my days.”

  Hadrian’s mouth crashed into mine, laying his extreme passion and love upon me. His body pressed against me, and mine into his. I felt the hard groves and shapes of his body as he kissed me deep, uncaring of the many who gawked on behind him. When he pulled back he was breathless and beaming.

  “Then I will take that as a yes,” Hadrian said, lips swollen and red.

  “Yes, Hadrian Vulmar Prince of Olderim and King of my heart. Yes.”

  His chest heaved as he released a breath, which tickled all my sense. With a tender hand he brushed the hairs away from my head and the tipped my head back in his hand. He kissed me until the world slipped away and we no longer could sense anyone but each other. With the sun beginning its long descent behind us, we glided on the ship towards home.

  It would never matter where that might be. With Hadrian in my arms, I would always find comfort. Home.

  I LOOKED BEYOND the carriage window at the rickety house, the place in which I was born and raised. It had been months since I had looked upon the rough brick work and white faded window frames with dusted glass.

  Buds of roses were almost in bloom across the overwhelming bush which took up most of the side of my home. Deep green leaves glistened with the early morning dew. Small insects would be bathing amongst the small balls of water for refreshment from the warm weather as they always did. I used to watch them from my window every morning. A window that was open, curtains drawn as we looked upon it.

  “Such a beautiful place,” Hadrian hushed from beside me. “Even now I look upon it and can almost see you growing up here.”

  “I can’t believe I am back,” I said. “The last time I saw home was when I was in the back of the cart being taken out of the town to Olderim. So much has changed since then, yet this place seems untouched.”